Augmented reality mechanism for wagering game systems

Abstract

A wagering game system and its operations are described herein. In some embodiments, the operations can include detecting, at a gaming machine, a fiducial marker in one or more images captured by an image capture device of the gaming machine, determining an orientation of the fiducial marker, and detecting a fiducial code embedded within the fiducial marker. The operations can also include providing, via a network, fiducial code information and fiducial marker orientation information to a wagering game server to identify an augmented reality object associated with the fiducial code and determine attributes of the augmented reality object. The operations can further include receiving, at the gaming machine, wagering game content and the augmented reality object from the wagering game server, incorporating the augmented reality object within the wagering game content, and presenting the wagering game content comprising the augmented reality object on a display device of the gaming machine.

1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 detecting, at a gaming machine, a fiducial marker in one or more images captured by an image capture device of the gaming machine;   determining an orientation of the fiducial marker;   detecting a fiducial code embedded within the fiducial marker;   providing, via a communications network, fiducial code information and fiducial marker orientation information to a wagering game server to identify an augmented reality object associated with the fiducial code and determine attributes of the augmented reality object;   receiving, via the communications network, wagering game content and the augmented reality object from the wagering game server;   incorporating the augmented reality object within the wagering game content; and   presenting the wagering game content comprising the augmented reality object on a display device of the gaming machine.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said detecting a fiducial marker comprises capturing one or more images of objects positioned in a field of vision of the image capture device of the gaming machine, and detecting the fiducial marker located within one of the objects captured in one or more of the images. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said determining an orientation of the fiducial marker comprises detecting a bounding indicator embedded within the fiducial marker, performing measurements on the bounding indicator, and determining the orientation of the fiducial marker based on the measurements performed on the bounding indicator. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein said performing measurements on the bounding indicator comprises determining angular and orientation information associated with the bounding indicator with respect to one or more reference points. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said incorporating the augmented reality object within the wagering game content comprises compositing the augmented reality object and video of the fiducial marker with the wagering game content. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the augmented reality object is a three-dimensional (3D) augmented reality object. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said detecting a fiducial code embedded within the fiducial marker comprises detecting an optical machine-readable representation of data embedded within the fiducial marker. 
     
     
         8 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 providing, via a communications network, wagering game content from a wagering game server to a gaming machine to initiate a wagering game session;   receiving, at the wagering game server, information associated with a fiducial marker detected by the gaming machine, said information comprising information associated with a fiducial code embedded within the fiducial marker and information indicating an orientation of the fiducial marker;   identifying an augmented reality object associated with the fiducial code;   determining attributes associated with the augmented reality object based on the orientation of the fiducial marker;   incorporating the augmented reality object within the wagering game content; and   providing, via the communications network, the wagering game content comprising the augmented reality object to the gaming machine for presentation on a display device of the gaming machine.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said determining attributes associated with the augmented reality object based on the orientation of the fiducial marker comprises determining one or more of movements, orientation, and composition of the augmented reality object within the wagering game content based on the orientation of the fiducial marker. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said incorporating the augmented reality object within the wagering game content comprises compositing the augmented reality object and video of the fiducial marker with the wagering game content. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said identifying an augmented reality object associated with the fiducial code comprises accessing a data store comprising associated fiducial codes and augmented reality objects, searching for the fiducial code within the data store, and identifying the augmented reality object associated with the fiducial code. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 receiving information indicating the orientation of the fiducial marker from the gaming machine;   determining that the orientation of the fiducial marker has changed; and   modifying the attributes of the augmented reality object based on the orientation of the fiducial marker.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 detecting a game event in a wagering game being played by a player during the wagering game session at the gaming machine;   awarding an augmented reality opportunity during the wagering game session based on the game event;   determining a fiducial marker including a fiducial code and a bounding indicator associated the augmented reality opportunity; and   causing the fiducial marker to be provided to the player.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein said causing the fiducial marker to be provided to the player comprises one of causing the gaming machine to print the fiducial marker, emailing the fiducial marker to the player, and texting the fiducial marker to the player. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 receiving, from the gaming machine, information associated with a second fiducial marker detected by the gaming machine, said information comprising information associated with a second fiducial code embedded within the second fiducial marker and information indicating an orientation of the second fiducial marker; and   modifying the attributes of the augmented reality object based on the second fiducial code and the orientation of the second fiducial marker.   
     
     
         16 . A wagering game server comprising:
 a game management unit configured to provide, via a communications network, wagering game content to a gaming machine to initiate a wagering game session, and configured to:
 receive, from the gaming machine, information associated with a fiducial marker detected by the gaming machine, said information comprising information associated with a fiducial code embedded within the fiducial marker and information indicating an orientation of the fiducial marker; and 
   an augmented reality unit configured to identify an augmented reality object associated with the fiducial code, and configured to:
 determine attributes associated with the augmented reality object based on the orientation of the fiducial marker; 
 composite the augmented reality object with the wagering game content; and 
 cause the game management unit to provide, via the communications network, the wagering game content composited with the augmented reality object to the gaming machine. 
   
     
     
         17 . The wagering game server of  claim 16 , wherein the augmented reality unit configured to determine attributes associated with the augmented reality object comprises the augmented reality unit configured to determine one or more of movements, orientation, and composition of the augmented reality object within the wagering game content based on the orientation of the fiducial marker. 
     
     
         18 . The wagering game server of  claim 16 , wherein the augmented reality unit is further configured to:
 determining that the orientation of the fiducial marker has changed; and   modifying the attributes of the augmented reality object based on the orientation of the fiducial marker.   
     
     
         19 . The wagering game server of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the game management unit is further configured to detect a game event in a wagering game being played by a player during the wagering game session at the gaming machine and configured to award an augmented reality opportunity during the wagering game session based on the game event; and   the augmented reality unit is further configured to determine a fiducial marker including a fiducial code and a bounding indicator associated the augmented reality opportunity and configured to cause the game management unit to provide the fiducial marker to the player.   
     
     
         20 . A wagering game machine comprising:
 means for capturing one or more images of objects positioned in a field of vision of an image capture device of the wagering game machine;   means for detecting a fiducial marker located in one of the objects captured in one or more of the images;   means for detecting a bounding indicator embedded within the fiducial marker;   means for performing measurements on the bounding indicator;   means for determining an orientation of the fiducial marker based on the measurements performed on the bounding indicator;   means for detecting a fiducial code embedded within the fiducial marker;   means for providing fiducial code information and fiducial marker orientation information to a wagering game server to identify an augmented reality object associated with the fiducial code;   means for receiving wagering game content and the augmented reality object from the wagering game server;   means for compositing the augmented reality object with the wagering game content; and   means for presenting the wagering game content composited with the augmented reality object.   
     
     
         21 . The wagering game machine of  claim 20 , wherein said means for detecting the fiducial code embedded within the fiducial marker comprises means for detecting an optical machine-readable representation of data embedded within the fiducial marker. 
     
     
         22 . The wagering game machine of  claim 20 , wherein said means for performing measurements on the bounding indicator comprises means for determining angular and orientation information associated with the bounding indicator with respect to one or more reference points. 
     
     
         23 . One or more machine-readable storage media, having instructions stored therein, which, when executed by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform operations that comprise:
 determining wagering game content to provide to a gaming machine via a communications network to initiate a wagering game session;   identifying an augmented reality object associated with a fiducial marker detected by the gaming machine based, at least in part, on information associated with the fiducial marker received from the gaming machine, said information comprising information associated with a fiducial code embedded within the fiducial marker and information indicating an orientation of the fiducial marker;   determining attributes associated with the augmented reality object based on the orientation of the fiducial marker;   compositing the augmented reality object with the wagering game content; and   providing, via the communications network, the wagering game content composited with the augmented reality object to the gaming machine for presentation on the gaming machine.   
     
     
         24 . The machine-readable storage media of  claim 23 , wherein the operations further comprise determining that the orientation of the fiducial marker has changed and modifying the attributes of the augmented reality object based on the orientation of the fiducial marker. 
     
     
         25 . The machine-readable storage media of  claim 23 , wherein said operations for identifying an augmented reality object comprise operations for accessing a data store comprising associated fiducial codes and augmented reality objects, searching for the fiducial code within the data store, and identifying the augmented reality object associated with the fiducial code.